望其項背

Chinese

		hope; expect; to visit hope; expect; to visit; to gaze (into the distance); look towards; towards	his; her; its his; her; its; theirs; that; such; it (refers to sth preceding it)	person's back; view of someone's back; figure seen from behind
trad. (望其項背)		望	其	項背
simp. (望其项背)		望	其	项背
Literally: “can see the neck and back of somebody ahead”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wàngqíxiàngbèi

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄤˋ ㄑㄧˊ ㄒㄧㄤˋ ㄅㄟˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mong⁶ kei⁴ hong⁶ bui³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wàngqíxiàngbèi
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄤˋ ㄑㄧˊ ㄒㄧㄤˋ ㄅㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wàngcísiàngbèi
    • Wade–Giles: wang⁴-chʻi²-hsiang⁴-pei⁴
    • Yale: wàng-chí-syàng-bèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wanqchyishianqbey
    • Palladius: ванцисянбэй (vancisjanbɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɑŋ⁵¹ t͡ɕʰi³⁵ ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵¹⁻⁵³ peɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: mong⁶ kei⁴ hong⁶ bui³
    • Yale: mohng kèih hohng bui
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mong⁶ kei⁴ hong⁶ bui³
    • Guangdong Romanization: mong⁶ kéi⁴ hong⁶ bui³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɔːŋ²² kʰei̯²¹ hɔːŋ²² puːi̯³³/

Idiom

望其項背

1. to get within a little distance of somebody; to be a match for somebody; to stand comparison with somebody